Portable electronic devices, such as cellular telephones, digital music players and other communication devices have enjoyed increased acceptance and a proliferation in usage throughout the population. Often these electronic devices are utilized with a headset, particularly cellular telephones and related electronic communication devices. The headsets come in many different sizes and configurations, including ones mounted on the ear, ones that fit into the ear, and ones that clamp on top of the head of the wearer. When the headsets are not being utilized, they are typically stored someplace until the headset is needed again. When in an automobile, that storage place can be in a cup holder, around a gear shift lever, in some covered storage compartment, or other inconvenient or inaccessible location.
The placement of electronic devices in automotive cup holders is reflected in U.S. Pat. No. 7,099,467, issued to Matthew Rohrbach on Aug. 29, 2006, wherein an insert is positionable into the top of the cup holder. The insert is formed with a receptacle in which an electronic device, such as a digital music player, can be inserted for support thereof in the automobile. Adapting sleeves are disclosed to permit the insert to fit in a variety of differently sized cup holders. A similar device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,099,466, granted on Aug. 29, 2006, to Sean Walsh wherein the insert has a pair of flexible members that resiliently deform to fit into the interior of an automotive cup holder. The insert has an upwardly extending pedestal on which a cell phone or other electronic device can be detachably mounted.
Other devices for mounting a cell phone from structure on the interior of an automobile other than the cup holder are also provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,194, granted on Dec. 10, 2002, to Ernest Marvin wherein a sleeve-like device is detachably mounted to the dash or other solid surface by an adhesive strip or by hook and loop fastener strip. The cell phone is slidable into the holding sleeve to be retained within the device in a convenient location until needed. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,549, granted to Chin-Yang Wang on Oct. 22, 1996, a similar sleeve-like device is mounted on the end of a deformable connector member that is attached to a base member equipped with suction cups for attachment of the device to a smooth, solid surface, such as the interior surface of the windshield of an automotive vehicle.
Other detachable devices have been provided for holding miscellaneous articles, such as eyeglasses, pens or pencils, with a device detachably mounted on the surface of an automotive vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,066, issued to Thomas Luisi on Jan. 16, 1996, discloses an object holder formed with a plurality of semi-circular members that are deformable to snuggly support a generally cylindrical object such as a pen or pencil. The clip members are formed in different sizes to be engaged with differently sized objects. U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,432, granted on May 20, 2003, to Robert Kushner, teaches a clip-on device for supporting personal articles, such as eyeglasses. This device is detachably mounted by clipping onto an automotive sun visor or by an adhesive strip attaching the device to a solid surface within the interior of an automobile.
None of the above-identified prior art documents are specifically adapted for use with headsets, although some, such as the clip-on device of U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,432, could be adapted to accomplish the task of supporting a headset. Nevertheless, the support of a headset in the clip-on device of U.S. Pat. No. 6,564,432 would not make the headset conveniently accessible to an occupant of the automotive vehicle as the spring-loaded device would positively clasp the personal article to prevent an easy release thereof. It would be desirable to provide a holder that would be operable to receive and engage a headset for an electronic device, such as a cellular telephone, so that the headset could be quickly and easily accessed. It would also be desirable that the holder be capable of engagement with substantially all forms and configurations of headsets without requiring adapters for use with specific devices. It would further be desirable that the headset holder be formed in a manner to be associated with a selected manner of attachment to the surface of the interior structure of the automotive vehicle.